NCAA Betting Odds – Miami Hurricanes at Central Florida Knights
Miami Hurricanes (4-1 SU, 3-1 ATS) at Central Florida Knights (3-2 SU, 4-0 ATS)
Saturday, October 17 – 7:30 PM ET
Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, FL
BetUS NCAA Betting Odds: MIAMI -14.5, Total 47
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
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MIA has won four of its last five games SU
MIA has covered seven of its last ten road games
MIA has lost four of its last five road games SU
UCF has won 11 of its last 15 home games SU 
Remember George O’Leary, who lost his job at Notre Dame because he “lied” on his resume? O’Leary bounced from there to the Minnesota Vikings to Orlando, where he has been there for six years and has taken UCF to two bowl games. O’Leary preaches defense, and that has been reflected in this year’s club, which has limited opponents to 2.8 yards a carry. The offense was awful last season but returned nine starters, including all of the skill performers. Still, the Knights were playing without a talented trigger man, and that hurt them in the NCAA football betting odds.
UCF fans would like to think that has changed with the insertion of Brett Hodges, a transfer from Wake Forest who has tossed six touchdown passes but got intercepted four times against East Carolina three weeks ago.
He is an improvement on Rob Calabrese, who was less than 50% last year. Central Florida is a little top-heavy in the rushing game, as Brynn Harvey ranks 16th in the country with 536 yards, but has no one, and I mean NO ONE supporting him (next highest rushing total for a UCF running back is 27 yards).
With two weeks to prepare, Central Florida is not badly positioned for this game, which could mean a lot to them in terms of recruiting. On October 3, UCF took advantage of a Memphis team that was weak at quarterback, and did not have running back Curtis Steele at 100%, and scored a 32-14 win. Of course, they were down with 18 minutes to go in that one and staged a big rally to clinch the win in the NCAA football betting odds.
There is no doubt this is a big step up in competition for O’Leary’s team. The good thing about the way Miami has scheduled is that they have had a couple of weeks to come down from the euphoria of beating Oklahoma. Last week they had a nice tune-up against Florida A&M, and Damien Berry had 162 yards rushing, which supplied further evidence that while the ‘Canes don’t have a “go-to” running back, they have a number of people who can contribute.
Jacory Harris doesn’t necessarily have the greatest numbers in the world (10 TD’s, 7 INT’s), and he had two pickoffs against that FCS entry last week, but we know what he can do, don’t we? Furthermore, he has done it against some of the nation’s better teams, going back to the opener against Florida State (well, they were one of the best teams THEN), He was brilliant at times against Oklahoma, but come to think of it, he threw two interceptions in that game as well.
Since they seem to have a little swagger back, thanks to offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, I’m not sure Miami gets itself up to a fever pitch against opponents like this. Meanwhile, UCF will be sky-high. Last year’s meeting was no picnic for bowl-bound Miami, as they won a 20-14 decision in an ugly contest that saw only 294 yards gained – from BOTH sides. This looks like the kind of game where Miami is happy to get out with a win, and for that reason we’ll grab the 14.5 points with Central Florida in the BetUS NCAA betting odds.
OUR PLAY: CENTRAL FLORIDA +14.5 **
